Hand attaching tool



Aug. 29,1961 0. J. HUELSTER ETAL 2,997,716

mun ATTACHING TOOL Filed Nov. 13, 1959 |NVENTOR5 CH0 .1 Huelsfer William H. Phillips Jr. John F. Sco++ TORNEY United States Patent O 2,997,716 HAND ATTACHING TOOL Otto J. Huelster, Plymouth, William H. Phillips, Jr.,

Southington, and John F. Scott, Waterbury, Conn., as-

signors to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of 'Connecticut Filed Nov. 13, 1959, Ser. No. 852,841 Claims. (Cl. 1-317) This invention relates to hand tools of the type used for setting stud and socket parts of snap fasteners upon a piece of fabric or the like.

In the spirit of do-it-yourself practices and the marketing of packages of various kinds of snap fasteners over novelty counters, a considerable interest of late has been directed to the use of snap fasteners and to attaching them to garments in the home in place of buttons or hooks and eyes.

Also, there is a trend to attach snap fasteners of a more attractive nature in which the exposed part of the fastener member may be of different shapes and also capped or fitted with an ornamental piece.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide a simple tool that can be used in the home and which will readily adapt itself to the assembly of the various parts of the snap fasteners as well as the different styles and sizes that are sold to the trade. One of the members for attaching a socket or a stud to a support is usually a prong ring in which the prongs are forced through the support fabric during the assembly.

A further object of the invention is to provide a swinging member that when it is in its down position, it will hold the fabric against the piercing part of the attaching member and prevent it from shifting and also provide a recess for retaining the complementary part in line with the attaching member prior to the final assembly after which the assembly may be completed through the use of a hammer and punch. This assures a better assembly of parts and makes it less likely for the operator to make an error in setting a defective fastener.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specifications and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hand assembly tool embodying our invention showing the anvil lever in elevated position;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the same with the hinging lever in elementassembling position to fasten a prong ring and socket;

FIG. 3 shows a portion of the tool as shown in FIG. 2 set up to fasten the stud and post of FIG. 7;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one side of the interchangeable die used in the hand tool with the parts of the fastener to be assembled thereby located above their respective die seats;

FIG. 5 is a similar view of the opposite side of the interchangeable die and the fastener parts to be assembled thereby located above their respective die seats;

FIG. 6 is a separated view of a conventional socket member and its complementary prong attaching member; and

FIG. 7 is a similar View of a stud and its complemen- V tary post attaching member.

Referring now to the drawing, there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention suitable for applying snap fasteners such as disclosed in the Fenton Patents 2,106,728 and 2,131,347 to a garment support S usually of textile material.

One of the fastener members as shown in FIG. 6 consists of a prong ring 10 and a fastener socket 11. The prong ring 10 is in the form of an annulus 12 having a series of tapered prongs 13 projecting from its inner circumference; I i

The socket 11 is formed with the usual resilient fingers 14 surrounded by an anvil portion 15 terminating in a clincher rim 16. The anvil portion 15 serves to deflect the prongs 13 of the prong ring 10 outwardly, and the clincher rim 16 serves to upset and clinch the ends of the prongs during the setting operation. The complementary fastener member is shown in FIG. 7 and consists of a post 17 and a stud 18.

The one tool for setting the above type of fastener elements upon a garment support S is best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and consists of a base 20 of relatively thick material having an elongated recess 21 in its upper surface into which is loosely fitted an interchangeable die 22 of an elongated shape comparable to the base recess 21.

Pivoted to the upper surface of the base is an element retainer and aligner lever 23 having a through opening 24 opposite from its hinging end and in which opening is slidably fitted a setting punch 25. The axis of the opening 24, when the lever is positioned as in FIG. 2, is in alignment with one of the die recesses of the interchangeable die 22 and this will be considered the setting station of the device. The above parts are preferably all made of nylon or similar plastic material which has a slight amount of resiliency.

One of the novel features of this invention is the manner in which the element retainer lever 23 is assembled into and operated in the base. As shown in FIG. 2, the base 20 is formed with a raised platform 26 having a recess 27 intercepting the upper surface of said platform and extending through the bottom and one end of the base 20 with a connecting bridge 28 forming a portion of the raised platform 26.

A pair of trunnion recesses 29 are formed in the upper surface of the raised platform 26 having one side substantially aligned with a shoulder 30 forming the inner edge of the bridge 28. The hinging end of the lever 23 is formed with an offset bearing section 31 that has a frictional bearing fit between the sidewalls of the recess 27. This is for the purpose of retaining the lever in any position such as shown in dotted outline in FIG. 2 to facilitate the changing of the die 22 and assembling the fastener elements. The bearing section 31 of lever 23 is provided with an integral trunnion 32 extending from opposite sides thereof and are rotatably fitted within the trunnion recesses 29 of the raised platform 26. As noted in FIG. 2, the dimensions across the upper end of the trunnion recesses 29 are slightly less than the diameter of the lever trunnions 32 for the purpose of holding the lever in assembled position in the base 20.

The fact that the base is made of nylon material will offer some amount of resiliency to allow for the above type of assembly by merely forcing the lever trunnion 32 downwardly through the restricted open ends of the trunnion recesses 29. To remove the lever 23 from the base, it is only necessary to swing said lever to the dotted line position in FIG. 2 where a short upper surface '33 of the lever will abut the bridge shoulder 31% which point will act as a fulcrum for raising the lever trunnions 32 out of the trunnion recesses 29 as the lever is forced in a clockwise direction.

As pointed out in the objects, the tool is designed to set various shapes and different parts of snap fastener members upon a garment support. For this purpose, the interchangeable die 22 is in the shape of an elongated block having rounded ends in conformity with the shape of the recess 21 in the base 20.

After it is decided to set the conventional socket and prong ring of FIG. 6 along with the conventional stud and post of FIG. 7, the upper face of the die as shown in FIG. 4 is used where one end has a suitable recess 34 for receiving the prong ring 10. In setting the prong ring and complementary socket, the die 22 will be fitted into the base recess 21 with the axis of the recess 34 in alignment with the setting station of the tool. The support material S will then be laid over the base 20 and oriented to the position where the fastener part is to be set and then the lever 23 will be swung down with the lever opening 24 surrounding the prongs of the prong ring 10 sitting in the die and sufiiciently grip the support material to prevent its slipping relative to the setting tool. The complementary socket 11 is then dropped into the lever opening 24 which will thus properly align the socket with the prong ring, after which, the punch 25 may be fitted into the lever opening and rest upon the anvil portion 15 of the socket. Finally, with a very light hammer blow upon the top of the punch 25, the socket and prong ring will be clinched together and permanently set upon the support material S.

In setting the stud and post members 17 and 18 of FIG. 7, the die 22 must be turned about so that a projection 35 on its upper face will register with the setting station of the tool. The post 17 is first set upon the die with the opening of its barrel portion adjacent the stud base fitted over the die projection 35. The support material S is then placed over the post and lever 23 which is then swung downwardly to stretch and tightly clamp the support material over said post. The stud 18 is next dropped into the lever opening 24 and the punch 25 fitted therein and with a very light hammer blow, the stud and post may be clinched together. From FIG. 2 and 3, it will be noted that the punch 25 is provided with a recess 36 in its lower end to accommodate the head of the stud 18.

When a more ornamental type of fastener member is to be set upon the garment, the prong ring may be fumished with a pearl cap or a similar ornament and held to the prong ring with a retainer rim. Two such embellished prong rings are shown in FIG. wherein a round prong ring 37 and a square prong ring 38 are disclosed. To accommodate these special prong rings, the opposite face of the die 22 from FIG. 4 and as shown in FIG. 5, is formed with a suitable round recess 39 to receive the round prong ring located thereabove. Likewise, a suitable concentric square recess 40 is also formed in the same die face for receiving the square prong ring 38 shown directly thereabove.

In order to facilitate the removal and insertion of the interchangeable die 22 from the base recess 21 for aligning the proper die recess with the tool setting station, the base 20 is provided with a pair of lateral cut-outs 41 in its upper opposite edges, said cut-outs intercepting the die recess 21 and thus exposing a portion of the opposite sides of the die 22. Thus, the die may be readily grasped for removal and reassembly in the properly aligned position.

A bore 42 may be provided in the base 20 having a counter-beveled recess 43 opening into the die recess 21. This bore 42 and recess 43 is designed to accommodate a screw in case it is desired to attach the tool to a table or bench. Another bore 44 is provided in the base 20 that aligns with the setting station and serves to accommodate the projection 35 of the die when placed in a downward position as seen in FIG. 2.

While only one form of the invention is shown and described, it is to be understood that the construction may be varied as to mechanical details without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of what is claimed.

What we claim is:

l. A hand-operated tool for attaching snap fastener members to a garment comprising a base, a die in said base having a recess for receiving one of the elements of the snap fastener member whereby a garment placed upon said base will overlie the fastener element and may be registered relative thereto, a lever hingedly and detachably snap locked to one end of said base and adapted to swing in a plane perpendicular to the base, said lever 7 having an opening opposite from the hinging end with said opening in alignment with said die recess, said opening being of such size and location as to hold an attaching member for said snap fastener element on the opposite side of the garment when the lever is in lowered position, and a punch member slidable in said lever opening and serving to clinch the attaching member and snap fastener element together from opposite sides of said garment.

2. A hand-operated tool for attaching snap fastener members to a garment comprising a base having an elongated recess in its upper face, an interchangeable elongated block having a shape comparable to and adapted to have a removable drop fit into said recess, said block having die faces for accommodating various sizes and kinds of fastener elements, a lever hingedly connected to the upper face of said base, said lever having an opening opposite from its hinging end with said opening in alignment with one of the die faces of the interchangeable die faces of said block when the lever is lowered toward the base and serving to receive and register an element attaching member, a punch member slidable in said lever opening serving to clinch the attaching member and snap fastener element together from opposite sides of said garment.

3. A hand-operated tool as defined in claim 2 wherein the upper opposite edges of said base are provided with cut-outs intercepting the base recess for exposing a portion of the interchangeable die block to facilitate the removal and reassembly of said die.

4. A hand-operated tool for attaching snap fastener members to a garment comprising a base having a die recess and a hinging recess in its upper face, an interchangeable die loosely fitted into said recess, said die having die faces for accommodating various sizes and kinds of fastener elements, a lever, means for engaging said lever in said hinging recess by a snap action, said lever having an opening opposite from its hinging end with said opening in alignment with one of the die faces of the interchangeable die when the lever is lowered toward the base and serving to receive and register an element attaching member, means frictionally embracing a portion of said lever by said base whereby it may be held in any rotated position, and a punch member slidable in said lever opening serving to clinch the attaching member and snap fastener element together from opposite sides of said garment.

5. A hand-operated tool for attaching snap fastener members to a garment and wherein one of said snap fastener members has a piercing portion for piercing through support material and to be upset within the other complementary part of the fastener member, said tool comprising a base, a die in said base having a recess for receiving that part of a fastener that is to be pierced through the garment, a lever hingedly connected to swing in a plane perpendicular to the upper face of said base, said lever having an opening opposite from the hinged end with said opening in alignment with said die recess axis when the lever is in element-assembling position and serving to clamp the support material over the piercing part of said piercing element preliminary to the setting operation, said lever opening also serving to receive the complementary part of the fastener and hold it in alignment with the piercing element, and a punch member slidable in said lever opening that is adapted to be struck by a hammer to clinch the fastener elements together from opposite sides of the support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 274,941 Heysinger Apr. 3, 1883 294,033 Haff Feb. 26, 1884 362,730 Eder May 10, 1887 376,971 Tone Ian. 24, 1888 1,515,356 Watson Oct. 28, 1924 2,920,325 Janes Ian. 12, 1960 

